CSL Behring steps up Covid fight

Biotechnology giant CSL has stepped up the fight against Covid-19 with the announcement it has begun trials to evaluate its monoclonal antibody CSL312 for respiratory distress.

The company’s CSL Behring arm has begin phase II placebo-controlled studies on the safety and efficacy of the garadacimab, Factor XIIa antagonist monoclonal antibody for patients with Covid-19 related pneumonia.

The company is now pursuing five clinical approaches to preventing and treating the pandemic virus.

The latest effort is a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in which 124 adult patients with the SARS CoV-2 infection will be treated with either a placebo or CSL312.

The R&D Lead for Respiratory Therapeutic Areas, Lars Groenke said: “The greatest clinical challenge in treating patients with severe COVID-19 and improving outcomes has been our ability to manage the serious respiratory complications associated with the disease.

“Our hope with CSL312 is to be able to prevent the progression of COVID-19, improve patient outcomes, and provide physicians with an effective tool in the fight against this deadly virus.”

In addition to the study of CSL312, CSL Behring:

• Has entered into a partnering agreement with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and The University of Queensland (UQ) to accelerate the development, manufacture and distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine
• Is one of the founding members of the CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance, a partnership to develop CoVIg-19, a potential blood plasma-derived therapy for treating COVID-19
• Is developing an anti-SARS-CoV-2 plasma product for the Australian market with the potential to treat people with serious complications of COVID-19
• Has also formed a partnership with SAB Biotherapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, to advance and deliver a novel immunotherapy targeting COVID-19.

Further details on CSL’s Covid-19 work can be found here.

Picture: CSL Behring

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